Bangalore: Efforts of the three major political parties, Congress, BJP and JD (S) to get Pramoda Devi, widow of Srikantadatta Wadiyar to contest on their ticket in the Lok Sabha polls have reached a dead end with Wadiyar politely rejecting the offers to contest from Mysore-Kodagu seat .Sources in the three parties confirmed this development.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader of the BJP said, "At least a week before AICC vice president, Rahul Gandhi met Wadiyar in her Bangalore Palace, BJP state president, Prahlad Joshi met her and broached the topic requesting her to contest on a saffron party ticket. But, she asserted that she was not interested in contesting polls at this juncture."
According to the BJP leader, Wadiyar explained that she was never interested in politics. She reportedly said, she was inclined to fulfill the responsibilities that had been thrust on her after the sudden demise of the Prince.
A senior leader in the Congress revealed that though Gandhi did not broach the topic when he met Wadiyar, other leaders including AICC general secretary, Digvijay Singh had touched on the topic. "Wadiyar explained that she had not emerged from the shock of her husband's untimely death.
She requested the leaders not to force her to contest the polls as she had tremendous respect for both Singh and the Congress. It was a long standing relationship with the Congress, but she was not ready to fight a poll," the source explained. When contacted, a senior leader in the JD(S) too claimed that Wadiyar wasn't keen to contest.
